apps
drag2share: ALERT: Your ‘Secret’ Snapchat Relationships Aren’t So Secret
Snapchat is a smartphone app you can use to send a picture or video of yourself to a friend.
It’s big with the kids, and increasingly, the rest of us.
Snapchat’s key feature is that those pictures and videos will always self-destruct after, at most, 10 seconds.
This means that you can use Snapchat to send people all sorts of videos and photos you would not ordinarily send. Maybe that’s super silly photos and videos. Maybe it’s super sexy photos and videos, if that’s what you want.
But be careful!
While your photos and videos can’t be seen by anyone but the person you are sending them to, everyone you are friends with on Snapchat can, in fact, see who you are sending most of your photos and videos to.
In Snapchat parlance, any of your “friends” on Snapchat, can go to their friends list in the app, tap on your name, and see who you are “BFFs” with. “BFFs” are the people you communicate most with.
If my Snapchat friends were to do this, they’d see I chat most with some guy named Jay Yarow and my wife, Anna.
Check it out:
This is a weird feature for Snapchat to include. Maybe! it help s juice the apps “network effects.” Maybe it’s helpful for new users to see who their friends chat with, so they know who to chat with.
But can’t you imagine the feature causing problems for some teenage (and more adult) romances out there?
Also, isn’t it just weird for a communications platform to publish who its users are communicating most with? For example, as a reporter, I wouldn’t want anyone to see my most frequently dialed list.
Anyway. Heads up!
PayPal app becomes a deal offering mobile wallet payment platform
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/paypal-app-mobile-wallet-android-ios/
PayPal’s status as the mobile payment method of choice for the masses is beset upon all sides by many would-be usurpers. What’s the company doing to stay on top? Beefing up the feature set of its apps for iOS and Android in a big way today — adding a full-on mobile wallet, automatically-applied deals and discounts and some new ways to order stuff and pay for it.
The wallet feature lets people pay with a PayPal account, a credit or debit card, bank account or a line of Bill Me Later credit that can be applied for within the app. Like Google Wallet, the new PayPal app incorporates deals and discounts that are then automatically applied when you pay. Speaking of which, you can still send money the old-fashioned PayPal way, but the new app also integrates ordering, couponing and paying within PayPal’s merchant network. We got to see the new app in action, so join us after the break for more.
1 in 4 TV Viewers Uses Second Screen to Simultaneously Watch More Video
TV is increasingly part of a multi-screen experience, vying for viewer attention in a sea of multitasking behavior. Now it appears that TV is competing with something beyond the usual suspects (email, social networking, internet browsing): more video. According to a new study [pdf] from Ericsson ConsumerLab, 1 in every 4 TV viewers surveyed across a range of countries is using a second screen to watch 2 or more programs, live events, or shows at the same time.
That wasn’t the most popular second-screen activity, of course, but it’s another indication of the growing influence of mobile devices on video viewing. Indeed, among a subset of countries, owners of the respective devices reported spending less time watching TV on a weekly basis, and more time using portable devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Ericsson’s list of identified activities being carried out on second-screens is by no means exhaustive, and tends to focus on more TV-related than unrelated activities. (Research has shown that most multi-screen behavior involved unrelated activities.) Nevertheless, it’s worth taking a look at the popularity of the various identified activities. The most common were: reading email while watching TV/video content (63%); using applications or browsing the internet to kill time (56%); using apps or browing the internet to find out more information (49%); and using social forums at the same time as watching TV/video content (40%). The study found fewer viewers competing with others watching th! e same sh! ow (14%) and interacting with the show through voting (13%).
While traditional TV is competing with online video sources, scheduled broadcast viewing remains popular. 83% of respondents from a subset of 9 markets (US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Brazil) claim to watch scheduled broadcast TV more than weekly. That figure is up from 79% last year, and stable from 83% the year before.
By comparison, 63% of respondents from those markets are watching content on their own schedules, streaming on-demand and time-shifted TV and video content, including YouTube. The popularity of such content is gradually rising, from 62% last year and 61% in 2011.
On Facebook, Retailers Tackle How Best to Drive Sales – eMarketer
source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/On-Facebook-Retailers-Tackle-How-Best-Drive-Sales/1009793
In 2011, major retailers in the US flocked to Facebook to build digital storefronts in hopes of capturing sales where so many socialized. But by the end of the following year, most high-profile players had closed their Fcommerce shops.
While some US retailers and brands forge ahead, the e-tailing group’s “15th Annual Mystery Shopping Study” found that what appeared to be a mass exodus did indeed happen. The number of retailers in the US with Facebook-enabled checkout dropped 63% between Q4 2011 to Q4 2012, to 6%.
Still, even as fewer “buy now” and “add to cart” buttons sprinkle Facebook’s newsfeeds and apps, US retailers know the importance of being on the site. According to a new eMarketer report, “Facebook Commerce: Evolving, Not Extinct,” the question is whether or not retailers can crack the commerce half of social engagement.
According to the e-tailing group, 98% of US ecommerce merchants surveyed had a Facebook page in Q4 2012, and nearly the same number of respondents (97%) linked to Facebook from their site. It is also notable that sharing in general is on the rise—a tactic growing in popularity as social discovery becomes a bigger part of the shopping process.
And even if Fcommerce did not work out for plenty of retailers, they are still positive about the role Facebook plays in social commerce. A survey by RichRelevance demonstrated that Facebook retailers in the US consider Facebook with high regard: The site took up a significant share of user social commerce sessions compared with other social! network sites in 2012.
drag2share: The Most Popular Apps Right Now (FB, AAPL)
It’s not exactly news that Facebook is popular, but a new survey of smartphone and tablet users by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), shows just how popular it is.
CIRP asked users to list the three apps they use most frequently. This chart shows the percentage of respondents listing each app amongst their most frequently used.
As you can see, Facebook blows away the competition.
There are some surprises on this list. Swagbucks is one of the most popular, and we’ve never heard of it. It’s site that gives you digital currency for installing a toolbar and using the web. The digital currency can be used for real stuff like Target gift cards.
A non-surprise surprise on the list is Candy Crush Saga. This app just came out of nowhere to be massively popular. One of our writers describes her $127 a week addiction to the app here.
drag2share: Tablets Continue Their Rise As Shopping Devices, Far Outpacing Smartphones In Conversion Rates
Tablet users visiting e-commerce sites are three times more likely to make a purchase than those accessing the sites on their smartphones.
Tablet-based conversion rates for the holiday season in 2012 reached 2.2%, according to new data from Adobe’s State Of Mobile Benchmark Digital Index.
Smartphone conversion rates over the same period were significantly lower, reaching only about 0.7%.
Adobe tracked activity on over 500 U.S.-based retail websites during December 2012, and calculated conversion rates as total orders divided by total website visits.
The relatively low smartphone conversions were in effect during the the 2011 holiday season as well, when they were also .7%, according to a separate Adobe study.
It may be that in lieu of making an actual purchase, consumers more often prefer to use a smartphone for its on-the-go practicality in comparing prices or pinpointing store locations while shopping.
It’s further evidence that retailers have to approach mobile on a device-specific basis, meaning they should optimize their mobile sites and apps specifically for tablets and smartphones.
Tablets also offer would-be shoppers more screen real estate for browsing, and many consumers have basically begun to use them as lean-back PCs. However, desktop PCs still command the highest conversion rates.
Comparing 2011 to 2012, we see tablet conversion rates actually fell slightly, from 2.5% to 2.2%.
drag2share: Android’s Insane Fragmentation (GOOG)
Android is a seriously fragmented operating system, and it’s only getting more fragmented.
OpenSignal, which makes an app that measures network performance, produced the following chart on the state of Android based on its users. It used the last 682,000 downloads of its app to produce the chart.
It says there are 11,868 distinct Android devices, up from 3,997 Android devices last year.
While this sounds like a mess for developers, Google has 1 million apps in its Google Play app store for Android. That’s more than Apple has for its App Store. So, the fragmentation isn’t turning off developers.
And the fragmentation of Android is the reason it’s the most popular smartphone operating system in the world. Handset makers have used thousands of versions of Android to push the operating system around the world.
drag2share: In-Store Mobile Couponing Popularity by Category
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Passbook Results
Since Passbook’s launch, several Passbook-optimized apps have achieved meaningful results. Apple’s virtual wallet platform has proven particularly effective for retail outlets and restaurants.
drag2share: Mobile Accounted For 29% Of Search Ad Clicks Last Quarter
source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/F0cOe5Lgb1Y/nine-out-of-ten-apps-are-free-2013-7
A new study from the Search Agency found that smartphones and tablets combined for a 29% share of search ad clicks last quarter, up from 17% a year ago. Smartphones saw a greater share increase than tablets. Read >
drag2share: Nine Out Of Ten Apps Are Free
source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/F0cOe5Lgb1Y/nine-out-of-ten-apps-are-free-2013-7
The Vast Majority Of Apps Are Free (Flurry)
And it keeps rising: 90% of apps currently in use are free, up from 84% last year. The $0.99 price point has been especially squeezed, falling to just 6% of apps in use from 15% in 2011. Android users are the least willing to pay for apps. The average app price on Android is $0.06, compared to $0.19 on iOS. The findings reinforce that that “freemium” will continue to be the dominant business model in apps for the foreseeable future. It also opens the door for more mobile advertising, if consumers aren’t willing to pay for apps. Read >
Digital Consigliere
Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.
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